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Book Review Tuesday, Part 1

This is Part 1 of 2 because I've read 16 books since my last Book Review Tuesday post in November. There would have been more, but I'm rereading all the Harry Potter books again (I'm on the Order of the Phoenix - Book 5 - right now).

1.The Little Paris
Bookshop, byNina George, Simon Pare
(translator). Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary
apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes
novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a
reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't
seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak
after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has
never opened. After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he
hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make
peace with his loss and discover the end of the story.

The Bug Says: I read this
one for book club and I really thought I would like it. It was nicely quirky,
and the characters were somewhat interesting. But, since I’m the person who
will wander through your house looking to see if you have anything in your
decorative boxes, I had no patience
for Monsieur Perdu and his 20 year old unopened letter. Sorry for your
heartache dude, but it should have
happened 20 years ago! I gave it 3 stars.

2.All Shall Be Well(Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James #2), by Deborah
Crombie. Perhaps it is a blessing when Jasmine Dent dies in her sleep. At long
last an end has come to the suffering of a body horribly ravaged by disease. It
may well have been suicide; she had certainly expressed her willingness to
speed the inevitable. But small inconsistencies lead her neighbor,
Superintendent Duncan Kincaid of Scotland Yard, to a startling conclusion:
Jasmine Dent was murdered. But if not for mercy, why would someone destroy a
life already so fragile and doomed? As Kincaid and his capable and appealing
assistant Sergeant Gemma James sift through the dead woman's strange history, a
troubling puzzle begins to take shape -- a bizarre amalgam of good and evil, of
charity and crime . . . and of the blinding passions that can drive the human
animal to perform cruel and inhuman acts.

The Bug Says: I enjoyed the first book in this series &
decided to continue on. I’m glad I did. The ending was very surprising! I gave it 4 stars.

3.Breaking
Braydon (Breaking
and Taking #1), by M.K. Harkins. Playboy billionaire Braydon Decker
changes women more often than designer ties. Scarred and humiliated as a
teenager, he pledged long ago to never trust a beautiful woman again. But then
he never imagined meeting one quite like Jain Parker. Jain, a dedicated
medical research scientist, learned early in college that her good looks were a
hindrance and she’d have to tone down her beauty to be taken seriously, thus,
Plain Jain was born, and men were no longer an issue. Of course, she didn’t count
on running into Braydon Decker.

The Bug Says: This was
my book club freebie, and if it looks like your typical Harlequin romance, then
you are exactly right. As a brown eyed brunette, I was So Annoyed (ANNOYED)
that Jain disguised herself as a brown eyed brunette to make herself unattractive.
Urgh. I gave it 2 stars.

4.Devoted
in Death (In Death #41), by J.D. Robb. Ella-Loo
and her boyfriend, Darryl, had been separated while Darryl was a guest of the
state of Oklahoma, and now that his sentence has been served they don’t ever
intend to part again. Ella-Loo’s got dreams. And Darryl believes there are
better ways to achieve your dreams than working for them. So they hit the road,
and when their car breaks down in Arkansas, they make plans to take someone
else’s. Then things get messy and they wind up killing someone—an experience
that stokes a fierce, wild desire in Ella-Loo. A desire for Darryl. And a
desire to kill again.

The Bug Says: Another
great Eve Dallas installment – Ella-Loo & Darryl made a big mistake when
they brought their show to NYC! I gave it 4 stars.

5. Taking Tiffany (Breaking
and Taking #2), by M.K. Harkins. Young socialite, Tiffany Thompson, seems
to have it all, everything but love, that is. Guarded since her high school
boyfriend’s betrayal, she wouldn’t recognize real love if it hit her over the
head. Unless it’s a can of paint, and successful financier Todd Jameson is
behind it. Todd fell hard and fast for Tiffany a year earlier, but,
unwilling to risk his own heart after a college sweetheart shattered it, he
avoids Tiffany and vows to keep his distance. Fate has other plans, however,
and changes both their minds.

The Bug Says: OK, I know
I just read the first book in this series, and I know that I gave it 2 stars,
and I know that I was really annoyed about what the main character did to make
herself unattractive, but…book #2 was free too & I sort of liked the
Tiffany character. But this one was meh too, so I gave it 2 stars.

6. The Wicked Will Rise (Dorothy
Must Die #2), by Danielle Paige. To make Oz a free land again, Amy Gumm
was given a mission: remove the Tin Woodman’s heart, steal the Scarecrow’s
brain, take the Lion’s courage, and then Dorothy must die... But Dorothy still
lives. Now the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked has vanished, and mysterious
Princess Ozma might be Amy’s only ally. As Amy learns the truth about her
mission, she realizes that she’s only just scratched the surface of Oz’s
past—and that Kansas, the home she couldn't wait to leave behind, may also be
in danger. In a place where the line between good and evil shifts with just a
strong gust of wind, who can Amy trust—and who is really Wicked?

The
Bug Says: This series has so much potential! But I guess I’m
past the age where I’m entertained by teenage heroines. I’ve got middle-aged hormones
going on – I do not want to deal with teenage ones. Plus, I was really disappointed
by who was killed in this book. I spent a lot of the book just annoyed. You
know I’ll probably read the next one though. Sigh. I gave it 3 stars

7. Faceless Killers (Kurt
Wallander #1), by Henning Mankell. One frozen January morning at 5am,
Inspector Wallander responds to what he believes is a routine call-out. When he
reaches the isolated farmhouse he discovers a bloodbath. An old man has been
tortured and beaten to death, his wife lies barely alive beside his shattered
body, both victims of a violence beyond reason. The woman supplies Wallander
with his only clue: the perpetrators may have been foreign. When this is leaked
to the press, it unleashes racial hatred. Kurt Wallander's life is a shambles:
his wife has left him, his daughter refuses to speak to him, and even his
ageing father barely tolerates him. He works tirelessly, eats badly, and drinks
his nights away in a lonely, neglected flat. But now, with winter tightening
and his activities being monitored by a tough-minded district attorney,
Wallander must forget his troubles and throw himself into a battle against time
and against mounting racial hatred.

The
Bug Says: Here’s another one that I wanted to like, but Wallander
also mostly annoyed me (I’m sensing a trend – maybe I’m the problem!). I realize that the book was written in 1991,
but I had trouble with his attitude toward women. But the mystery itself was
interesting, as was the role that refugee camps played – especially with today’s
current refugee crisis. I gave it 3 stars.

8. The Scam (Fox
and O'Hare #4), by Janet Evanovich. Nicolas Fox is a charming con man and
master thief on the run. Kate O’Hare is the FBI agent who is hot on his trail.
At least that’s what everyone thinks. In reality, Fox and O’Hare are secretly
working together to bring down super-criminals the law can’t touch. Criminals
like brutal casino magnate Evan Trace. Evan Trace is running a money-laundering
operation through his casino in Macau. Some of his best customers are mobsters,
dictators, and global terrorists. Nick and Kate will have to go deep undercover
as high-stakes gamblers, wagering millions of dollars—and their lives—in an
attempt to topple Trace’s empire.

The
Bug Says: This was another fun romp through Janet Evanovich’s
mind. As I’ve mentioned before, unlike her Stephanie Plum character, Kate O’Hare
is actually a competent FBI agent. It’s nice to see a woman who can kick butt.
I gave it 4 stars.

Comments

I really like Deborah Crombie, and although I haven't read much Evanovich, the Fox and O'Hare series sounds fun. I remember many, many years ago when my mom (who's been gone almost 30 years) subscribed to Harlequin mysteries. I read a few of them and quickly saw they followed a formulaic plotline in every.single.book. Change hair and eye color, occupation, location but everything else is exactly the same. Made me crazy! I think you were generous giving them two stars :)

sounds like a lot to avoid but I might try the one by Deborah Crombie. didn't know there was another Fox and O'Hare novel. I'll have to look for that one when I finish plowing through the 850 page sci-fi book I'm on now.

I read The Little Paris Bookshop, probably because you mentioned it, and I liked it.I've just finished (and SWMBO is about to finish) "Being Nixon". As a political junkie who lived through the Nixon years, I loved it. And I learned that the author, Evan Thomas, is the grandson of the Socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas. For my "right before sleep reading", I'm taking a very slow spin through "Body Work" by Sara Paretsky. What's not to like about a V.I. Warshawski crime romp?

All your books sound so interesting! I'm reading nothing right now...always too tired. I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing differently than you do. We both work, we both take walks, we both have homes to run and keep in shape. Yet you find the time to read four times as much as I would like to read. What's your secret? Are the days longer in Ohio?

Your sentence I’m the person who will wander through your house looking to see if you have anything in your decorative boxes made me laugh out loud! You are too funny.

a recommendation: The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett. It's the final Discworld book and the ending feels a little rushed, possibly because Pratchett died before he had time to do a final edit - but the early chapters are beautiful. Also if you like detective fiction try Ian Rankin's Ressurection Men - but don't blame me if you get hooked on John Rebus as a result

Thanks for the reviews. I could read book reviews all day. Sometimes I go down a rabbit hole on audible.com and the next thing I know, an hour has passed. The Scam sounds like something I would like. I love detective stories, mysteries and who-dun-its, especially when they have strong female roles.

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Born in the south, I lived in Ohio for nearly 20 years. Now I’m back “home.” Follow along as I travel barely remembered paths and learn how to be southern again. For example, will I ever get my accent back? Stay tuned!